Environmental Pollution 158 (2010) 2809e2814
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Environmental Pollution
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envpol
Commentary
Curbing dioxin emissions from municipal solid waste incineration in China:
Re-thinking about management policies and practices
Hefa Cheng a, *, Yuanan Hu b
a
b
State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
Education Program for Gifted Youth, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94025, USA
The management policies and practices need to be improved to curb the increasing dioxin releases from municipal solid waste incineration
in China.
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 25 February 2010
Received in revised form
23 May 2010
Accepted 12 June 2010
As one of the countries with large amounts of dioxin releases, the control of dioxins is a major challenge
for China. Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration should be considered a high priority source of
dioxin emissions because it is playing an increasingly more important role in waste management. MSW
incineration in China has much higher emission rates of dioxins than in the developed countries, partially
resulting from the gaps in the technologies of incineration and flue gas cleaning. Moreover, the current
management policies and practices also contribute significantly to the problem. We recommend
lowering dioxin emission standard, strengthening fly ash management, and improving regulation
enforcement to reduce dioxin releases into the environment from MSW incineration. We also propose
that alternative strategies should be considered on dioxin control and call for an expansion of economic
instruments in waste management to reduce waste generation and thus the need for incineration.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Dioxins
Municipal solid waste
Incineration
Management policies and practices
Waste reduction
1. Dioxin contamination in China
“Dioxins” refer to a family of related chlorinated organic
compounds, polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-furans (PCDFs), which differ in the number
and position of chlorine atoms on the basic underlying chemical
structure. They are formed unintentionally and released as
byproducts of human activities such as fuel combustion, waste
incineration, chlorine bleaching of pulp and paper, pesticide
manufacturing, as well as by natural processes such as forest fires
and volcanoes (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000).
Dioxins are widely distributed in the environment at low concentrations, and combustion processes are believed to be the major
cause of this (Czuczwa and Hites, 1984). Their persistence in the
environment and highly lipophilic property render dioxins bioaccumulating and biomagnifying through food webs into different
trophic levels of organisms, including humans. The toxicity of each
member of the dioxin family varies considerably and is usually
expressed by a toxic equivalency factor (TEF) relative to the most
toxic of the congeners, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: hefac@umich.edu (H. Cheng).
0269-7491/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2010.06.014
(2,3,7,8-TCDD). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2000)
has characterized 2,3,7,8-TCDD as a “human carcinogen” and the
mixture of dioxins to which people are usually exposed as “likely
human carcinogens”.
It is difficult to estimate the extent of dioxin pollution across
China because they are unintentionally produced in many industrial and combustion-related processes. Regional monitoring data
indicate the widespread occurrence of dioxins is already a serious
environment issue. For instances, sediments from Ya-er Lake in
Hubei Province, which received wastewater discharged from
a factory manufacturing chlorinated organic chemicals, contained
0.16e797 ng I-TEQ/g (dry wt.) of PCDD/Fs (Wu et al., 1997). Agricultural soils in the vicinity of a municipal solid waste (MSW)
incinerator in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province contained
0.60e6.38 ng I-TEQ/kg of PCDD/Fs, which resulted mainly from
open burning of wastes, traffic and hot water boilers, but with
limited contribution from the incinerator (Xu et al., 2009a). Surface
soils around Beijing showed a mean background dioxin level of
about 0.88 ng WHO-TEQ/kg, which is comparable to those of lightly
polluted urban and industrial soils of other countries (Chen et al.,
2003). The concentrations of PCDD/Fs in the sewage sludge from
6 wastewater treatment plants in Beijing ranged from
3.47e88.24 ng I-TEQ/kg (dry wt.), although their sources were
unknown (Dai et al., 2007). Screening of human breast milk
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H. Cheng, Y. Hu / Environmental Pollution 158 (2010) 2809e2814
samples using the 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD)-TEQ
assay showed that the mean EROD-TEQ values ranged from 58.1 to
96.5 pg/g of milk fat for Hong Kong residents aged 21e36 years,
while the levels of dioxin-like compounds in a comparable group
from Guangzhou were much higher (98.8e202.1 pg/g of milk fat)
(Lai et al., 2004). Zheng et al. (2008) presented a comprehensive
review of PCDD/F pollution in China and compared the levels found
in different environmental media and in food with those reported
in other countries. Due to the widespread pollution and their
extreme toxicity, there is an urgent need to curb the release of
dioxins to protect the environment and human health in China.
As one of the countries with large amounts of dioxin releases
(approximately 10 kg I-TEQ/year), the control of dioxins is the
biggest challenge for China to reduce pollution from persistent
organic pollutants (POPs) (People’s Republic of China, 2007). A
preliminary inventory reveals that ferrous and non-ferrous metal
production (45.6%), heat and power generation (18.5%), medical
waste incineration (11.5%) and uncontrolled combustion processes
(9.9%) contribute to the vast majority of dioxins released in China
(Table S1, Supplementary Material). As part of the national implementation plan for the Stockholm Convention, which calls for
global elimination or restriction of the production and use of POPs,
China aims to adopt the best available techniques and best environment practices (BAT/BEP) to control the increasing trend of
dioxin releases by 2015 (People’s Republic of China, 2007).
Unlike most of the industrialized countries where MSW incineration is the major source of dioxins (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 2000), the contribution from waste incineration (338 g I-TEQ/year) to the total amount of dioxins released is
relatively small (3.3%) (People’s Republic of China, 2007). Nonetheless, MSW, hazardous and medical waste incineration should be
considered high priority sources in dioxin control owing to the
rapidly increasing reliance on incineration as an important way to
dispose waste in the near future (Zhu et al., 2008). In the present
work, we limit our scope to dioxin emissions from MSW incineration, although some of the discussions are also applicable to the
incineration of hazardous and medical wastes.
2. Development of MSW incineration in China
With China’s rapid economic development, the country is
undergoing unprecedented urbanization, and disposal of the
increasing volume of MSW generated presents a major challenge
for the municipalities (Cheng and Hu, 2010a,b, 2009; Cheng et al.,
2007). More than 150 million tonnes of MSW is produced each
year, and MSW generation is increasing at an annual rate of 8e10%
(Tables S2eS3, Supplementary Material). Incineration transforms
heterogeneous wastes into more homogeneous residues (flue gas,
fly ash and bottom ash) with the primary benefit of substantial
reduction of the waste’s weight and volume (up to 75% and 90%,
respectively). Energy from the discarded MSW can be recovered
during incineration through steam generation, which is subsequently used for power generation and/or heating (waste-toenergy, WTE). Besides reducing the need for landfill space and
generating energy, incineration also reduces the transport of MSW
to distant landfills and the associated fuel consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions (Kaplan et al., 2009; Weitz et al., 2002).
A growing number of cities, particularly those in the economically more developed coastal region, are switching to incineration
as the preferred option in MSW management. The percentage of
MSW treated by incineration increased from 2.9% to 12.9% from
2001 to 2005 (Nie, 2008). With the exception of few small-scale
(100e200 t/d) incinerators, all MSW incineration facilities are
operated as WTE plants in China. A total of 63 MSW incineration
facilities with a combined capacity of 800 MW were in operation in
2006, treating approximately 40,000 tonnes of MSW (Table S4,
Supplementary Material). During the 11th five-year plan period
(2006e2010), another 82 facilities are being built and planed,
adding a total incineration capacity of 66,600 tonnes/day (Table S5,
Supplementary Material). It is expected that incineration will play
an increasingly important role in MSW management in China in the
coming decade (Cheng and Hu, 2009, 2010b).
3. Formation and destruction of dioxins in MSW incineration
The dioxins emitted from MSW incinerators result from
a balance of destruction and formation processes. Fig. 1 shows the
major pathways for PCDD/F formation in the flue gas and fly ash.
Overall, formation of PCDD/Fs depends on the evolution of
precursors within combustion gases, the interactions with reactive
fly ashes, and the presence of oxygen, transition metal catalysts,
and gaseous chlorine (Fiedler, 1998; Weber, 2007; Altarawneh
et al., 2009). Temperature of the combustion gases is the single
most important factor in dioxin formation, with maximum
formation occurring at around 350 C and minimum formation
outside the range of 200e450 C. Dioxins can be totally destructed
in the combustion environment when the following criteria are
met: (i) homogenous high temperature of >850 C; (ii) excess of
oxygen (>6%), and (iii) sufficient residence time (>2 s). Their
formation in thermal processes can also be inhibited by various
chemicals, such as CaO, sulfur and nitrogen compounds
(Altarawneh et al., 2009).
Modern MSW incinerators are well equipped for dioxin
control. Fig. 2 illustrates the locations for the formation,
destruction, and removal of dioxins in a typical MSW incineration facility. In general, maximum destruction of dioxins during
incineration can be achieved by a combination of high combustion temperature, adequate combustion time, and turbulence to
distribute heat evenly throughout the combustion chamber,
while dioxin formation in the post-combustion zone can be
prevented by quickly cooling the flue gas exiting the combustion
chamber (to temperatures below 200 C), and minimizing the
presence of the catalytic metals. In addition, PCDD/Fs can be
further removed by the air pollution control devices (APCDs)
installed for flue gas cleaning.
4. Status of dioxin releases from MSW incineration and
recommendations for management policies and practices
Emission rates of dioxins from MSW incinerators in China
are generally higher compared to those in the developed
countries (<0.5 mg I-TEQ/tonne). Most of the large incinerators
in China are directly imported or based on foreign technologies, while the domestically developed incinerators are limited
to 100e500 t/d treatment capacities (Cheng and Hu, 2010b).
The emission factors of PCDD/F compounds to the atmosphere
from the domestic incinerators varied largely, and the average
emission factor was approximately 1.73 mg I-TEQ/tonne
(Ni et al., 2009). A study in 2001 found that atmospheric
emissions of dioxins from half of the small incinerators
exceeded the national standard of 1.0 ng I-TEQ/Nm3 (Tian and
Ouyang, 2003). More recent studies reported that concentrations of dioxins emitted from MSW incinerators were generally
in compliance with the Chinese standard, and could even meet
the European one (0.1 ng I-TEQ/Nm3) for the large-scale ones
adopting the best available air pollution control technologies
(Nie, 2008; Ni et al., 2009; Xu et al., 2009b).
Development of strategies and action plans for controlling the
release of dioxins from MSW incineration is an important task.
Table 1 summarizes the technologies and MSW management
H. Cheng, Y. Hu / Environmental Pollution 158 (2010) 2809e2814
2811
Fig. 1. Simplified pathways of PCDD/F formation in MSW incineration. Although the chemistry of PCDD/F formation in the flue gas and fly ash involves a wide variety of formation
pathways, three principle mechanisms are commonly accepted (Fiedler, 1998; Weber, 2007; Altarawneh et al., 2009): (i) pass-through of PCDD/Fs contained in the incoming waste the dioxin content in Chinese MSW is approximately 10 ng I-TEQ/kg (Yan et al., 2005), although incinerators with good combustion controls should destroy most PCDD/Fs in the
feed; (ii) PCDD/Fs produced via the homogeneous pathway, which involves reaction of structurally related precursors in the gas phase at temperatures between 400 and 800 C; and
(iii) PCDD/Fs formed via heterogeneous pathways in the temperature window of 200e400 C through the de novo synthesis, which proceeds through burn-off of a carbonaceous
matrix with simultaneous oxidation and chlorination in the presence of oxygen, and the catalytic-assisted coupling of precursors assisted with transition-metal species, particularly
copper compounds. It should be noted that there is no clear distinction between the precursor and de novo synthesis mechanisms.
practices for dioxin control, destruction, removal, and prevention in
MSW incineration in China. The technologies used for dioxin
control in developed countries, such as incineration and cooling
conditions control, inhibition chemicals, flue gas scrubbing, and
catalytic destruction, are also available in China. Source-classified
collection, which significantly reduces the contents of Cl-containing plastics and metals in the waste stream and allows more precise
control of the combustion conditions, is being gradually introduced
Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of the formation, destruction, and removal of dioxins at different points in typical incineration and flue gas treatment processes. Dioxins from the waste
stream are readily oxidized in the combustion chamber at temperatures well above 600 C, while some dioxins can also form. Most of the chlorinated precursor compounds volatilize
and move with the gas stream through the combustion process until they reach the temperature range favorable for formation of PCDD/Fs (200e450 C), mainly in boilers where the
economizers and heat exchange equipment are located. In flue gas cleaning, dioxins can be removed by adsorption onto powdered active carbon and/or destroyed by oxidizing catalyst.
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H. Cheng, Y. Hu / Environmental Pollution 158 (2010) 2809e2814
Table 1
Technologies and MSW management practices for dioxin control, destruction,
removal, and prevention in MSW incineration in China.
Category
Details
1. Control technologies
1.1 Incineration conditions
control
The flue gas resulting from the combustion
process is required to stay at >850 C for at
least 2 s (State Environmental Protection
Administration, 2001);
Homogeneous conditions for better
temperature control in the combustion
chamber are created through measures such as
waste classification, waste de-watering, waste
shredding, etc.
1.2 Inhibition chemicals
Injection of chemicals such as CaO, ammonia,
urea and other amines to inhibit dioxin
formation during incineration.
1.3 Cooling conditions control Improvement of gas-cooling equipment and
installation of cooling towers to prevent the
new formation of dioxins in the cooling phase.
1.4 Flue gas scrubbing
Installation of bag filters and injection of
activated carbon to remove dioxins from the
flue gas;
Technology and equipment for control of
incineration fume and dioxins is one of the
focus areas of the National Environmental
Protection Plan in the 11th Five-Year period
(2006e2010) (State Environmental Protection
Administration, 2007).
1.5 Catalytic destruction
Use of selective catalytic reaction (SCR)
catalysts for the combined dioxins/NOx
removal in flue gas treatment;
Catalytic bag filters are also used to remove and
catalytically destroy dioxins.
1.6 Phasing out small
Due to cost and management issues, small-sized
incinerators
incinerators tend to have higher rates of dioxin
emissions. Development of large MSW
incineration plants with 600 t/d capacities is
one of the focus areas of the National
Environmental Protection Plan in the 11th FiveYear period (2006e2010) (State Environmental
Protection Administration, 2007).
1.7 Technological innovation
Co-firing with coal is a common practice in
MSW incineration in China, with the sulfur
contained in the coal (up to 4%) effectively
inhibiting dioxins formation during
incineration;
MSW pyrolysis, and in particular gasification,
which significantly reduces dioxins formation,
is being developed as an alternative to
incineration.
2. MSW management practices
2.1 MSW classification and
Source-classified collection represents
handling
a change in MSW management in China.
Removal of Cl-containing plastics and metals
reduces chlorine and metal catalysts in the
waste stream, and sorted trash allows more
precise control of the combustion conditions,
both of which significantly decrease dioxins
formation in incineration.
2.2 Waste reduction, recycle,
China is making an effort to promote
and reuse over treatment
a recycling-based society, fully utilizing
materials by reducing waste generation and
increasing waste recovery (National People’s
Congress, 2009). Such measures reduce the
total amounts of waste to be incinerated;
Economic instruments for waste management,
especially user charges for cost recovery in
municipal waste services and for waste volume
reduction, are being gradually introduced in
China.
in MSW management. Although the technical requirements for
dioxin control in MSW incineration in China still have a gap
compared with the BAT/BEP guidelines of the Stockholm Convention (People’s Republic of China, 2007), the high dioxin emission
rates result equally, if not more than, from the current management
policies and practices.
i) Standard on atmospheric emission of dioxins. MSW incinerators used to be built to wildly different standards across
China and even within the same cities as the national
emission standards, which are less stringent than those in
Europe and U.S. (Table S6, Supplementary Material), were
not established until 2001 (State Environmental Protection
Administration, 2001). China should impose a tighter limit
on dioxin emission from incineration to ensure cleaner air
for local communities surrounding MSW incinerators and
better protect human health and the environment
(Supplementary Material). Meanwhile, government should
provide financial support for research and development of
new dioxin control technologies, which is expected to be
rewarded by timely implementation of the more stringent
regulation.
ii) Fly ash management. Compared to atmospheric emissions
from MSW incineration, dioxins in the fly ash have received
little attention in China. MSW incineration produces approximately 200,000 tonnes of fly ash per year (Nie, 2008), which
contains PCDD/Fs at significant levels, 0.8e1.5 mg I-TEQ/kg for
incinerators equipped with advanced APCDs (Bie et al., 2007).
Instead of being disposed of in hazardous waste landfills, most
of the MSW incineration fly ash is dumped in open pits or sold
to private parties for use in construction applications without
proper decontamination (Cheng and Hu, 2010b; Nie, 2008).
Development of appropriate dioxin destruction technologies
(e.g., vitrification, sintering, and thermocatalyic treatment)
and strengthening the regulations on fly ash management and
reuse, which are imperative to avoid secondary pollution, can
significantly reduce the amount of dioxins released to the
environment from MSW incineration.
iii) Enforcement of regulations. In China, the environmental laws
and regulations are enforced by local governments, which
often focus more on the local economic development and
frequently ignore the environmental issues, intentionally or
unintentionally. More effective administrative mechanisms
should be developed to ensure that regulations on dioxin
emissions from MSW incineration are not only strict, but also
well enforced. Regulation enforcement requires strong
monitoring capacities, although monitoring data on dioxin
releases are quite insufficient in China yet due to the high
analysis cost (People’s Republic of China, 2007). This challenge can be met by developing on-line monitoring techniques for key surrogate compounds of PCDD/Fs
(Supplementary Material). Besides making institutional
changes, the government should increase the financial
investment to help the waste incineration industry comply
with environmental regulations, while strengthen and
extend the use of economic instruments (e.g., taxes and
charges) to implement environmental policies in more environmentally effective and economically efficient ways.
5. Alternative dioxin control strategies
There is a need to improve considerations of mitigating
measures and alternative options when developing strategies for
reducing, eliminating, and preventing dioxins. Besides the emission concentrations, it is necessary to set up total daily dioxin
output (to air, water and soil) for a geographic region to protect
human health. Measures that can achieve realistic and meaningful level of release reduction or source elimination should be
H. Cheng, Y. Hu / Environmental Pollution 158 (2010) 2809e2814
evaluated for all dioxin sources. As human dioxin exposure comes
predominantly from dietary intake, efforts on dioxin control
should focus on reducing the environmental levels (and thus the
levels in food) of PCDD/Fs (Supplementary Material). Try to
eliminate dioxin emission from waste incineration at all cost is
not necessarily the best option. With the resources and investment, much greater amounts of dioxins may be eliminated from
other sources. For example, uncontrolled combustions, including
forest fires, open burning of agricultural residues and household
waste, are well known as a large potential source of dioxins
(Gullett et al., 2006; Hedman et al., 2006). The open burning of
crop residues alone released 1380 to 1520 g I-TEQ of dioxins each
year between 1997 and 2004, which amounts to 10e20% of
China’s annual emissions (Zhang et al., 2008). The contribution of
open burning of wastes and accidental fires to China’s dioxin
emission inventory has not been quantified yet due to lack of
relevant data (People’s Republic of China, 2007). Nonetheless,
significant amounts of dioxins are expected given the fact that
approximately half of the MSW are being dumped in open space
on the outskirts of towns and cities (Ministry of Construction,
2006). Therefore, improvement on MSW collection and environmentally sound disposal of all the MSW can bring greater dioxin
reduction than trying to achieve zero dioxin emissions from MSW
incineration. Furthermore, materials (e.g., paper, plastics and
metals) can be recycled and energy can be recovered (through
waste-to-energy) from the collected waste, which will bring in
a range of environmental benefits.
6. Concluding remarks
As China increasingly relies on incineration for MSW disposal,
it is necessary to curb the dioxin emissions from incinerators
through promoting the BAT/BEP and improving MSW management system. Furthermore, reforms in the current management
policies and practices, which discourage voluntary abatement and
inhibit development of new technologies, must be made to
effectively and efficiently reduce dioxin releases. Alternative
strategies, such as establishing total daily dioxin output and
increased collection and disposal of MSW, should also be
considered to protect the human health and the environment on
regional scale.
It should be noted development of incineration should not
discourage the use of best practice techniques that focus on the
highest priorities of the waste management hierarchy: waste
prevention, reuse and recycle. Ultimately, China aims to establish
a recycling-based society and fully utilize materials by reducing
waste generation and increasing waste recovery (National People’s
Congress, 2009), thereby minimizing the need for incineration and
the associated dioxin emissions. Appropriate expansion of
economic instruments, especially user charges, in waste management is expected to accelerate this process. Finally, the increasing
reliance on incineration for MSW disposal and the need to curb
dioxin emissions are not unique in China; many developing countries in Asia, such as India, Thailand and Indonesia, face a similar
situation (United Nations Environment Programme, 2005). It is
expected that the experience from China can offer some helpful
lessons to other developing counties.
Acknowledgement
This work was partially supported by the State Key Laboratory of
Organic Geochemistry (Grant No. SKLOG2009A04) and the “One
Hundred Talents” program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The
authors are grateful to anonymous reviewers for helpful comments.
This is contribution No. IS-1211 from GIGCAS.
2813
Appendix. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in
the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2010.06.014.
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